Britain's Ancient Tracks with Tony Robinson

Series 2
- Episode 1
Dartmoor

Review

by Jane Rackham

Viewers bored by talent shows but not averse to a spot of rambling are in for a good night with Channel 4. Tony Robinson, that tireless traveller of our countryside, is once again exploring the ancient ways that crisscross our landscape.

He’s on Dartmoor following in the footsteps of Arthur Conan Doyle (the author wrote Hound of the Baskervilles while staying in Princetown) and, of course, hoping to encounter the legendary Beast of Dartmoor while he’s at it.

After this at 8pm, if you’re not too exhausted, in World War Two’s Great Escapes, Monty Halls retraces a British PoW’s dramatic journey out of Nazi-occupied Italy over the perilous Majella mountain range.

Summary

The Time Team veteran returns to tell the stories of trackways that have been in use in Britain for more than 5,000 years. Having previously travelled the length of the Icknield Way, the Ridgeway and the North Downs Way, he now tackles an ancient route in Dartmoor, taking in what was reputed to be a bottomless lake, and encountering a four-legged beast.